


101 Ways to Kill Ex-Queen Scarlet

by CrystalOfTheIceWings



Series: 101 Ways [1]
Category: Wings of Fire - Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: 101 Ways to Kill A Character, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Each Chapter is Different, Each chapter is independent of the others, Gen, I'll add tags with each post, I'm Bad At Tagging, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, each details one method by which scarlet can die, over and over and over, sometimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:09:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26409253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalOfTheIceWings/pseuds/CrystalOfTheIceWings
Summary: How many ways are there to kill a snarling, hideous, revenge-filled ex-queen?A lot, as it turns out.(I accept prompts! This work can be read independently from other works in the 101 Ways series.)
Series: 101 Ways [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1919524
Comments: 13
Kudos: 9





	1. Firescales

**Author's Note:**

> Given school and stuff, except progress to be slow. Hope you enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peril finds Scarlet. Scarlet uses her favorite manipulation tactics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first chapter in this it-will-be-enormous-in-the-future fic. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Scarlet snarled, spreading her wings. “ _ Peril. _ ”

Peril narrowed her eyes. “There you are!” She sprang at the ex-queen—no, Scarlet was the  _ queen _ , Ruby was an impostor, unworthy of the throne—

Scarlet twisted away from her ex-champion’s smoking talons. Peril landed in the dirt, the grass shriveling beneath her feet. She whirled and opened her mouth, hissing. 

Wait—

The queen took off, beating her wings, as fire erupted from Peril’s mouth and licked across the stone and grass. A nearby tree caught fire. Scarlet narrowed her eyes at her ex-champion. 

“You were  _ mine _ ,” she hissed. “You  _ are  _ mine. You serve me, Peril. I raised you, saved you, kept you alive—and  _ this  _ is how you repay me. How tragic, Peril.”

The firescaled SkyWing’s face was set with grim determination. “You  _ lied  _ to me, Scarlet. Lied about my mother, lied about those black rocks. And you’re too dangerous to be left alive.” Something flickered across her face. Scarlet had always been good at reading other dragons; she knew Peril felt conflicted. About killing  _ her _ , no doubt. 

“How sad,” Scarlet said, glaring down her long snout at her servant. “You’re supposed to address me as  _ Your Majesty _ . Have you stooped so low, serving those  _ brats  _ that call themselves the dragonets of destiny? You could come back to me. You could serve me, protect me and destroy all my enemies. You know I love you, Peril. I  _ appreciate  _ your talents, unlike those wimp-faced  _ dragonets _ . If you come back to me, you’ll never fear anyone ever again.” She spread her talons. “Wouldn’t that be  _ thrilling _ ?”

That gave Peril pause. Of course, Scarlet was lying about her love for Peril. She was an asset, a tool to be used. Scarlet would use her to take back her rightful claim on the throne from that  _ usurper _ , and use her to keep power—and, of course, take vengeance on  _ all her enemies _ , starting with  _ Glory _ . 

Scarlet sneered, feeling the melted half of her face twist and contort. Yes, she would have her revenge. “What will it be, Peril? You know  _ I _ am the only dragon in Pyrrhia who cares about you. You know I’m the right choice.” She tilted her wings and dropped to the scorched ground. The earth was still warm beneath her talons. “Let’s start over, shall we? We can be happy again.” She forced her mouth into a twisted smile— _ that horrible RainWing, I’ll never smile properly again.  _

But then, she didn’t need to. 

The queen tilted her head to regard her champion, ghastly yellow meeting eerie blue. 

“No,” Peril said. “No.”

Scarlet hissed. “What do you mean,  _ no _ ? Are you  _ defying me _ ?” She couldn’t handle anyone doing that. It was horrible. She wanted power, all of it, and dragons doing  _ anything  _ against her will meant her power was slipping from her talons. 

_ No. This isn’t possible. Peril obeys  _ all  _ my orders. This is a temporary blip… She’ll be punished later for her actions.  _

“I… ” Peril paused. 

“You mean  _ yes _ ,” Scarlet snarled. “You  _ are  _ going to join me! That is  _ exactly  _ what you are going to do. I will be queen. You will be my champion. It’s the only way, Peril.”

Peril shook her head. “That’s not true. I… I have Clay. He cares about me, I know it.” 

So it was that  _ MudWing _ . How  _ thrilling _ . 

“You don’t understand,” the queen said in a drawling voice. “That  _ MudWing  _ only wants to humor you. He pretends to be kind and friendly, but in reality he  _ hates you _ . Everyone hates you!” She sighed. “Except for me, of course. Because  _ I  _ accept you for who you are, a beautiful, talented  _ killer _ .”

“No, no no no no no.” Peril lowered her head. “You  _ lie _ . Clay loves me, I know it.” She looked up, her eyes burning with determination. “He loves me!”

Peril lunged forward, grabbing Scarlet’s throat. Pain erupted through the queen; a horrible sizzling filled her ears. 

She couldn’t breathe. She tried to gasp for air; only smoke filled her mouth. She had seen dozens—no,  _ hundreds _ —of dragons die under her champion’s burning scales. How ironic that Scarlet herself would fall under the same fate as those hapless prisoners. 

_ How thrilling  _ was the last thought that ran through her head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to capture Scarlet and Peril's personalities and thought processes in this chapter. Tell me how I did!
> 
> You should comment! (You know you want to... come on.)


	2. Poisoned Goblet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morrowseer invites Scarlet to a game of poisoned goblets. 
> 
> Scarlet, realizing she has no choice, accepts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Poison” was suggested by AshSkyWing (FF.net) and KingCobra_blackdiamondson (AO3). 
> 
> While this was Princess Bride-inspired, you don’t need to know anything about it to enjoy this short.
> 
> Have a fun day, folks!

“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you _right now_ ,” Queen Scarlet demanded, her ears flat against her skull, “and why I should humor you in this little game of yours.”

Morrowseer spread his talons. “It’s quite simple,” he said. “Wouldn’t you like to prove yourself smarter than me, in this ultimate battle of wits? And if I die, you can hang my wings up in your throne room. You’ll be Queen Scarlet of the SkyWings, slayer of NightWings. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

The two dragons were seated in the throne room of the SkyWing palace, four guards surrounding them. For reasons unknown to Scarlet, the NightWing prophet Morrowseer had dropped by to visit her in her palace. Scarlet was grumpy about postponing her gladiator games for today, especially since she cared nothing for the NightWing. 

“Why me?” she hissed. 

“Because you’re the smartest queen on Pyrrhia,” he said, “even smarter than Burn.”

 _Do they think of Burn as the true SandWing queen?_ It seemed unlikely. These ridiculous NightWings didn’t care about the SandWing sisters… didn’t they? 

And how did they know Burn was the future queen? They had been very vague about that in the prophecy. They were probably lying. 

“I do not like your assurances,” Scarlet said. “I need more promises.”

Morrowseer shrugged. “If I die,” he said, pulling out a piece of parchment from… _somewhere_ , “you’ll know where the dragonets of destiny are. I’ll let you do what you want with them.” He also dipped his claw in an inkwell… _somewhere_ , and scribbled out something on the paper. He blew on it, then folded it up and tucked it into a waist pouch. “If I die, you can tell Burn _exactly_ where the dragonets are.”

Scarlet considered the offer. If she turned this offer down, and Morrowseer told Burn she had missed an opportunity to locate _the dragonets_ , which he probably would… well, the results weren’t going to be pretty. 

She had to do this, although she didn’t like how confident the NightWing appeared to be. 

Scarlet narrowed her eyes. “Very well. I accept.” _I’m smarter than you, anyway. Stuck-up NightWings and their stupid attitudes._ “You’ll be the death of me if I turn this down, anyway. What’s this game of yours?”

“It’s quite simple. I need two goblets filled with a drink of some sort. Water will do.”

Scarlet huffed and gestured to a guard. “Get two goblets, filled with water, and bring them here,” she snapped. The guard bowed and hurried out. 

“Dismiss the other guards,” Morrowseer said. 

“ _What?_ ”

Morrowseer shrugged. “Do it. I can’t have another guard peeking.”

“Peeking at what?”

Morrowseer pulled out a small packet from… _somewhere_. He held it up to Scarlet’s snout. “Smell this. Don’t touch.”

Scarlet sneered, but obliged. “I smell nothing,” she said, annoyed. 

“Indeed,” Morrowseer said, his voice calm and slick. He retracted his talon. “What you do not smell is called iocane powder. It is odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in liquid, and ingesting it will cause your heart to explode within a minute.”

“Where did you get it?” Scarlet asked, peering at the packet. “I’d like it for my arena.”

Morrowseer laughed. “It’s a secret NightWing formula,” he said. “It’s reserved for assassins. We don’t give it out willy-nilly. Now, dismiss the guards, please.”

“Hmph. Very well.” With a flick of her talons, Scarlet dismissed the guards. They were now by themselves. 

About a minute later, the first guard to leave returned with two goblets, filled with water. He set them down on the floor between them.

“Now leave us,” Scarlet said. The guard blanched, but left. 

“This will be fun,” Morrowseer said, taking both goblets and turning away from Scarlet. He turned back around and set the goblets down, one in front of him, one in front of her. “I think you know what I did,” Morrowseer said. 

“Yes,” Scarlet said. “You put the poison in one of the goblets, and I get to choose which to drink.”

The hulking NightWing nodded. “The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and we both drink, and find out who is right… and who is dead.”

Scarlet narrowed her eyes, thinking aloud. “Now,” she said, “all I have to do is to determine whether you’re the kind of dragon to put the poison in your cup or in your enemy’s. If you’re clever, you would’ve put the poison in your own goblet, because only a moonsblasted moron would reach for the goblet she was given. I am not a moonsblasted moron, so I can clearly not choose the goblet in front of you. But you know that I’m not a moron, you would’ve counted on it—so I can clearly not choose the goblet in front of me.”

Morrowseer smirked. “You’ve made your decision, then?”

“Not by a long shot!” Scarlet bristled. “This will be quite thrilling.”

“Go on,” the NightWing said, waving a talon. 

Scarlet reasoned, “Well, this… iocane powder was made by the secretive NightWings. If they’re so secretive, the NightWings must be used to dragons not trusting them, as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the goblet in front of you.”

Morrowseer’s ears twitched. There was an odd gleam in his eyes. Scarlet found it hard to read his face; she found that infuriating. 

“You’re quite interesting,” the NightWing said. 

Scarlet smirked herself. “Yes, I’m quite thrilling, am I? But since you told me where the poison came from, I can clearly not choose the goblet in front of me.”

“You’re just stalling now,” Morrowseer rumbled. 

Scarlet’s ears flicked, betraying her thoughts. _Of course I am,_ she thought. _No matter how I reason, this comes down to a coin flip._ To distract him, she wove a lie. “You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?” She gestured at some claw scars on Morrowseer’s side. “You’ve fought a lot of dragons, which means you’re stronger than most, so you could’ve put the poison in your own goblet, trusting your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the goblet in front of you. But you can write, which means you must have studied, and in studying you have learned that all dragons are mortal, so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the goblet in front of me.”

Morrowseer narrowed his eyes. “You’re trying to get me to give something away, aren’t you? It won’t work. ”

“You’ve given _everything_ away,” Scarlet said, lying through her teeth. “It’s worked. I know where the poison is.”

 _I suppose I’ll have to pick a random goblet now,_ she thought. _Either way, it’s a half-and-half chance. Oh, I got it now…_

She understood what she had to do. 

“Then make your choice,” Morrowseer said. 

Scarlet grinned evilly. “I will, and I choose… What is _that_?” She pointed behind the NightWing, out the open end of the throne room that faced the mountains. While Morrowseer twisted to peer out the entrance, Scarlet switched the position of the goblets. 

“I don’t see anything,” Morrowseer grumped. He turned back to face her. 

Scarlet put on her best concerned expression. “Well, I could’ve sworn I saw something. No matter. It’s probably a patrol.” She waved a talon, smirking. 

“Is there something funny?” Morrowseer asked with a frown. 

Scarlet said, “I’ll tell you in a minute.” _Ha! This allegedly intelligent NightWing fell for the oldest trick in the scroll._ “First, let’s drink. Me from my glass, and you from yours.” 

The SkyWing queen lifted her goblet and drank it. The towering NightWing did the same. The water tasted just like water—of course it did—and when Scarlet was done, she set the goblet down and wiped away a drop on her snout. Morrowseer set his goblet down as well. 

“You guessed wrong,” he said with a smile. 

Scarlet guffawed. “You only think I guessed wrong! That’s what’s so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool, you dimwit, you moonsblasted moron! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never invade the Ice Kingdom, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a SkyWing queen when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha—” She froze, clasping a hand to her chest, gritting her teeth against the explosion of pain. Why did it hurt so much? 

She couldn’t breathe, either. Something was pressing against her chest, like a mass of… exploded heart. 

Something was in her mouth. It tasted like metal—or, more accurately, blood. She wiped her snout, and her orange-scaled talon came away red. 

Her vision started to blur.

 _Impossible…_ Scarlet keeled over. Far away, she heard a dragon say, “How ironic… I poisoned both goblets… I’ve built up an immunity… ”

How _thrilling_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think!
> 
> You should comment. 
> 
> You really should. 
> 
> It would warm my totally-not-exploded heart if you did...


End file.
